Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-06-07
LIEUT.. GRBELY'S SURPRISE.
ds'S ALWAYS SPRlaGlRG QUEER WtAIH
Err OR INVENTIONS ON The PUBLIC.

Err OR INVENTIONS ON HE PubLlC.
A suffering Citizen Tries to Got Square by
Exnosinr a Dark Secret of the Lieutenant's
Texas Life-Filling Telegraph 1nsulators
with Hornets and Turning on the Warm
Weather Faucet-Angry 1inemen
suppose that Brig. Gen. and Chief
Signal Officer Adolphus Weather-pro-
phet Greedy thought he was very funny
when he sent that Lapland blizzard
over here Monday to put rs all in
digestive chill. If SO, would like to
inform him privately that his reputa-
lion as humorist in this town will get
a chronic case of mango if he infests
us with another joke OF that kind. 1t
may be that the Generals meteorol ogy
got little mldewed during the several
pleasant seasons he spent at the North
Pole. and that he til nks it Is the proper
,aper to give the country January
freeze out in the midst OF All april
thaw; or, perhaps, he contracted lik-
ing for Esqdfmaux climate, and prefers
his balmy and ethereal spr ng trimmed
with unexpected and supernuous bursts
IF bluc-noscd weather, but l can tell
him that when the average Citzcn-at-
work is pining for early flies and as
p,tragus, he doesn't enjoy stopping
around in wet feet or going with chat
/ ;ering teeth to premature grave.
Easter Sunday Gen. Greedy was all
tght. He gave us clear. millinery
weather and plenty of it, and although
several dozen of our most beautiful
dudes were wilted by the heat, no one
ventured complaint. But after this
tropical touch, what did he mean by
sending out such o measly, Virgins
dill of fare us this:
"F'o7' the middle atlantic States, btiz-
.ards, cyclones, frost, s1oW, rain, hail,
sEset, nth local are rs of stush; rising,
falling or stationary barometer; wind
N. E., S. W., or calm"
Does he think that after giving us
,unburn and freckles, and getting us out
Of ulsters and in the way of juleps and
other straw punishment, this is nice
sort of thing to practise on "a long suffer-
ng community Are we going to have
my sudden brigadcrs swell ng around
md tt fling with our hottest rights in
his wanton and p.ratical manner? Is
his his idea of fun. raising merry Cain
Ill over the country with his low-down
Manitoba ep sodes, when the humble
lit zen wants to wear blue neclltie
md go fishingP The weather last
week was pretty good for bullfrogs but
hats the best that can be said OF 1t.
1 hate to tell tales out of school. bat
Gen. Greedy doesn't tone down his
IDEAS of spring tile l W II rarrate IN
Incident of his brief career in, Texas.
de came down there in November,
1875, to build telegraph line to San
Antonio from Fort Brown. He had an
nsulator which he and other experts
lad gotten up in Washington espc cial-
V for this line. 1t consisted simply OF
, well-lacquered sheet-lron cap over 4
Try wood screw, and had the general
appearance OF tomoto can on the end
Of broomstick when in position.
Well, the line was built-40C
niles of it-and for two weeks or 8
month it worked like dream. Sud-
ienly warm weather came along, and
when warm weather strikes the lower
Rio Grande it takes held for keeps.
The thermometer crawed up to 100, and
after several weeks of this spell the line
began to get mysterious kinks in it.
There was trouble somewhere, and
plenty of it. The line wasn't down,
out it seemed to have lost its grip, or
through messages. San Antonio had to
10 its business with Fort Brown by re.
aging at Laredo. In few DAYS Lare-
DO could only telegraph as far II, Ring.
gold Barracks, south, or to Fort Clarke,
North, and through messages from San
Antonio to Fort Brown had to stop, Of
;hrce times ell route and taks rest. Al
The end of week the trouble wa.
worse yet. Lieut.. Greely--he was
plain lieutenant then-sent couriers
gailoping up and down the whole cir
,ut. They couldn't lind Il place where
;he wire WAS down or in, contact with
'rees or anything But they reported
something queer with insulators.
Lieut.. Greely was wild with indignant
surprise. The idea of I'm ''insulator''
going wrong which had been concoct.
I'd in Washington especially for Texas!
Still the telegraph line wasn't working
any better rs a telegraph line than a.
4 fSh-line or a clothes-lne, SO, he Dor
rowed 3 mule from the quartermastel
and started out TO investigate. Hs
came Back in light march NO order
that evening with n, sad secret in hi
arart and several iuHamed humps or
ais countenance, aud minus. the way
ward army mule. The simple trutl
was that the Texan hornets, who ar,
'hftless and lazy beasts. thought tn,
lcw insulators were shelter kndl,
! provided b. Government for the,l
especial use. and had gone to worl
and filled every blessed one of then
rom San Antonio down with mud